Pascagoula collecting gift cards for storm victims

May 10, 2011 at 1:59 PM CDT - Updated June 24 at 12:55 AM

PASCAGOULA, MS (WLOX) - A Pascagoula councilman is calling on folks around town to help tornado victims in Smithville rebuild. Organizer Frank Corder said he's working with the city to collect VISA or Walmart gift cards to send to the victims.

About two weeks ago, a massive twister touched down in the city leaving a path of destruction and killing several people there. So far, $300 in gift cards have been donated, but Corder said a lot more money is needed to assist the city on its long road to recovery.

"One thing we saw that devastating for that community was lost of jobs in Smithville. A lot of the community was affected by the lost of main industry, which is the furniture industry, as well as small businesses," Corder said. "So our effort to do gift cards for Smithville was basically a way to empower the people and put them back in charge of their recovery."